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What Size Pipe For My Roll Cage

4wheelin4Jesus

4wheelin4Jesus

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I am going to be fabricting a roll cage for my 78 jimmy. I wanted to know what you all recomend for the size and thickness of pipe that i should use.
any pics of roll cages would be cool to.
thanks and God Bless.
 
none....



you don't use pipe for roll cages, you use tubing. 1.75 with a .120 wall is pretty standard strong tube. DOM is much preferred.
 
4wheelin4Jesus said:
i thought that tubing was square, and pipe was round?
Click to expand...

Nope, tubing can be round or square. DOM is preferred, but depending on the type of wheeling you do, that should drive your decision on what material to use. Competition regulations stipulate DOM. If your not really into hardcore stuff, consider HREW. It's a lot cheaper but plenty strong for the occasional outing. If you're not into real hard core off camber stuff, it can be considered. If you plan on running w/out the top a lot and need something for the family, please use DOM. Cheap insurance in case of a bad accident.
 
thank you for your reply. im a welder from years back. welded i-beams on large buildings. this thin stuff is pretty forein to me. what exactly is dom? I am taking it from the guy who replied earlier that it is around 1 1/2" in diameter, and pretty thin.
 
DOM means "drawn over mandrel". It doesn't have the visible weld seam.

The size Sled_Dog referred to is 1.75" OD with a wall thickness of .120 or 11ga. ID is 1.510.
 
DOM is just a name for a type of tubing. It means Drawn Over Mandrel. HREW is Hot Rolled Electric Welded. If you see the two side by side, HREW has a seam down it. This can be a failure point under extreme stress(roll over). I would agree that if you don't forsee ever being on your lid(just doing it as a precaution) HREW could be good enough. For many of the guys around here who have been on their lids a few times, DOM is a must.

I recommended 1 3/4" with a .120" wall(1/8").
 
sled_dog said:
DOM is just a name for a type of tubing. It means Drawn Over Mandrel. HREW is Hot Rolled Electric Welded. If you see the two side by side, HREW has a seam down it. This can be a failure point under extreme stress(roll over). I would agree that if you don't forsee ever being on your lid(just doing it as a precaution) HREW could be good enough. For many of the guys around here who have been on their lids a few times, DOM is a must.

I recommended 1 3/4" with a .120" wall(1/8").
Click to expand...

Hey Mandic, DOM has a seam just like HREW...in fact up until it's been drawn over that mandrel DOM is identical to HREW. The big reason for DOM is that manufacturing tolerances are tighter so the wall thickness variance is a lot less with DOM than with HREW. We are talking about 'thou's though.

About the only seamless stuff I've run across is CDSM (Cold drawn seamless mechanical tubing) Spendy as hell though.

I wouldn't call DOM 'cheap insurance' either. Around here it'll run you double what HREW costs.

If i had an ID pipe die for my bender I wouldn't hesitate to use pipe for bumpers. You do have to be specific when ordering material though. Black pipe is not what you want...that is total plumbing only kinda stuff. 1010 mild pipe is just dimensioned by it's ID rather than it's OD. Aside from that difference it's basically HREW too.

Rene
 
You can build it out of pipe and make it work just fine if you want... You will just have to use thicker material (more weight) to get the same strength as you would get w/ lighter tubing.

My cage is 1.75 .095 wall tubing, I have roll tested it, and it holds up just fine!!!!
 
Poohbair said:
You can build it out of pipe and make it work just fine if you want... You will just have to use thicker material (more weight) to get the same strength as you would get w/ lighter tubing.

My cage is 1.75 .095 wall tubing, I have roll tested it, and it holds up just fine!!!!
Click to expand...
I know Sally Biffle, Greg Biffles mom, and she says the .095 wall 1.75 is what they use on the race car. She also owns J&S steel here in Vancouver ,so she probably knows what shes talking about.
 
thank you for your reply. taking out the obvious choice of cold roll being the best, what would you recomend that I use?
thanks
 
Sounds like Rene know his stuff on this one. You need to decide suits you personally. After hearing what Rene has to say on the subject, I'd seriously look at the cost difference between HREW and DOM. I know I can get 1.75x.125 wall DOM for $3 per ft. I my price on HREW is some where in the $1.90 per ft. range. Big difference there.
 
I like 1.75 ,if its good enough for nasscar ,its good enough for your car :D I think the 3" looks good but it take up alot of cab space. so what I'm doing is 1.75 and then wrap it in padding
 
I made the mistake of buying 2" DOM for the main hoops for my dodge. Nobody has 2" dies, they stop at 1.75. Even the chassis shops, 4x4 shops and even most hydrallic shops.
 
Poohbair said:
You can build it out of pipe and make it work just fine if you want... You will just have to use thicker material (more weight) to get the same strength as you would get w/ lighter tubing.

My cage is 1.75 .095 wall tubing, I have roll tested it, and it holds up just fine!!!!
Click to expand...
Hi five !! As I have said before ,my dad is a welder/millright and made lumber racks of customers for 35 years out of regular pipe !! Regular pipe is like a timex; is very strong and maulable[ie,rolling your blazer over].If I wanted to go to a stronger tubing ;I would use cro-molly or stainless .
 
4trolls said:
I know Sally Biffle, Greg Biffles mom, and she says the .095 wall 1.75 is what they use on the race car. She also owns J&S steel here in Vancouver ,so she probably knows what shes talking about.
Click to expand...

good to see another vancouver-ite on ck5. :) what part of the 'couve are you in? Ive been to J&S steel before... got some square tube there once...

*end hijack* :grin:

j
 
tRustyK5 said:
Hey Mandic, DOM has a seam just like HREW...in fact up until it's been drawn over that mandrel DOM is identical to HREW. The big reason for DOM is that manufacturing tolerances are tighter so the wall thickness variance is a lot less with DOM than with HREW. We are talking about 'thou's though.

About the only seamless stuff I've run across is CDSM (Cold drawn seamless mechanical tubing) Spendy as hell though.

I wouldn't call DOM 'cheap insurance' either. Around here it'll run you double what HREW costs.

If i had an ID pipe die for my bender I wouldn't hesitate to use pipe for bumpers. You do have to be specific when ordering material though. Black pipe is not what you want...that is total plumbing only kinda stuff. 1010 mild pipe is just dimensioned by it's ID rather than it's OD. Aside from that difference it's basically HREW too.

Rene
Click to expand...


Didn't know that, good to know. I'm used to the big old seam of HREW, guess I never noticed the seam on my DOM. I didn't say it was cheap :p:
 
The seam on DOM is less visible, but is is definitely there.

IMO, the strength gained versus the extra cost is not worth it to me, for what I do with my truck. Good design with lots of triangulation is likely going to be much more important. I can understand going the extra mile in a competition rig, or a race car though. The tighter tolerances of DOM ensure thinning of the walls in the bends is minimized as much as possible.

Diesel Dan: JD2 makes 2" tube die sets. The 2" set is the largest you can get for the model 3 bender.

To the original poster; sorry for the hi-jack. Most guys here use 1.75" tubing. Most common is .120" wall although some feel comfortable with thinner tube.

Rene
 
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